The Merc With a Mouth is returning sooner than initially thought.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the so-far untitled Deadpool 2 (Deadpool: The Second Coming, perhaps?) has relocated to May 18th, placing it smack bang in the middle of Avengers: Infinity War and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Originally scheduled for June 1st, Fox’s reshuffling effort ensures the Merc has escaped the looming shadow of Star Wars – as THR notes, Lucasfilm’s crown jewel typically enjoys a strong second weekend, and the fact that Solo is due to arrive on May 25th means Deadpool 2 will now be able to get the jump on the global box office.
It’s by no means the only X-Men tentpole to be affected by this shake-up, as Gambit has been bumped back to June 7th, 2019. That’s not all that surprising, given it just lost director Gore Verbinski; the real surprise comes in relation to The New Mutants.
Once on course to drop on April 13th, Josh Boone’s horror-oriented spinoff has been pushed back…by a full 10 months. Sources close to THR suggest that Fox made the decision so that its X-Men blockbusters – namely The New Mutants and Deadpool 2 – aren’t playing in select overseas markets simultaneously. Because sometimes you can really have too much of a good thing. Still, a 10-month delay is, on paper, a little disconcerting.
And so, to recap: Deadpool 2 will now kick-off Fox’s 2018 lineup on May 18th, before X-Men: Dark Phoenix swoops into theaters on November 2nd. Further afield, The New Mutants has now been scheduled for February 22nd, 2019 – a full 10 months later than initially planned – with Gambit expected to drop on June 7th of that same year. You know, providing it can keep hold of its next director…
